Wired central remote control units for controlling medical devices in a medical area, for example, a surgical operating room, have the physical constraint of wired connections to each of the medical devices due to the necessity of using electrical control signal cords. The cords also limit the operating distance of the medical devices from the remote control unit. Eliminating the electrical cords would provide improved accessibility in a medical care area. Further, a medical worker spends a significant amount of time connecting cords between medical devices and a central control unit.
Wired connection to a central controller for some medical devices, such as room lights, along with wall or ceiling mounted cameras, located in a surgical room also is not very practical.
One known operating room control system includes a master controller electrically connected to slave controllers and/or medical devices via a plurality of communication ports. As an alternative, the master controller may be connected to slave controllers or medical devices via wireless communication systems such as IR or RF signal transmitters and receivers on the master controller, slave controllers and medical devices. It is possible that such an operating room control system may actuate a medical device located remotely from the desired working space. This situation may arise when a master controller provides wireless control signals that travel outside of the desired working space and communicate with another surgical device. For example, a master controller may activate a medical device within another adjacent operating room, even when the master controller is located in the correct room or is located in a hallway outside of a nearby operating room.
Accordingly, the present invention encompasses an arrangement that allows a wireless controller to only operate a plurality of devices located in a desired medical room.
A system for preventing unintended activation of a plurality of medical devices or the like according to the invention includes a wireless controller that detects a device identifier for each medical device. The medical devices may be portable or fixedly mounted in a medical room. Further, the wireless controller may be portable or fixedly mounted in a medical room. A room monitor may be provided which communicates a room identifier to medical devices and wireless controllers entering the medical room. In operation, the wireless controller uses the room identifier and device identifiers to identify each medical device in the medical room.
In one embodiment, a global network system receives data from a plurality of room monitors and determines which devices and controllers are located in respective operating rooms. The information can be used to display the type and location of various medical devices in a single room.
Another embodiment enables a user to automatically display at a remote central location the exact number and types of medical devices located in multiple medical rooms, such as patient rooms, operating rooms, storage rooms and nurse stations in a medical facility.
One embodiment prevents a second wireless controller from interfering with control of medical devices by a first wireless controller.
Another embodiment enables wireless central control of portable medical devices and fixed medical devices, such as wall cameras and ceiling mounted lights in a medical room, without requiring wired control connections.
Another embodiment enables wireless control of a plurality of medical devices in a medical room by providing two or more transceiver locator devices in the room for a time-of-flight arrangement that determines the presence of medical devices by their distance from the respective transceiver locator devices. Thus, room identifiers are not required. In some embodiments having a plurality of transceiver locator devices, the exact position of the medical devices in an operating room also may be determined and displayed.